Fans welcome new Knight regime at Tech

Even as the son rises, it's still Knight time in Lubbock as Red Raider fans anticipated coach Pat Knight's home debut Wednesday at the United Spirit Arena.

With lights dimmed and music blaring, fans showed support for the new coach and his team as they were welcomed onto the court, ready to face off against the 18th-ranked Kansas State Wildcats.

"I'm looking forward to his first win," Emmett Muennink, a graduate student at Texas Tech from Hondo, said of Knight's first home performance since taking over for his father, Bob Knight, as head coach. "I think it'll be a lot of the same, at least for the rest of this season."

In Pat Knight's first two outings at the helm, the Red Raiders lost to Baylor and Nebraska on the road.

Wayne Culp, a retired doctor from Lubbock, said he was looking forward to the faster pace of Pat Knight's coaching style while still trying to work with his father's signature motion offense.

"I hope that Pat can recruit, maybe better than what his dad would be doing now," Culp said. "I just wish him the best."

Not everyone at the arena was as excited to see Pat Knight's first home game as some traveled to Lubbock just to see the elder Knight coach.

Tara Kauffman, clad in purple and white with her fellow Kansas State alums, said she was disappointed she missed the chance to see "The General" in action. As for his son, she hadn't formulated an opinion yet.

"I don't know anything about him," she said. "I really don't."

Much of the disappointment at the arena didn't seem to be about the new coach, but about the lack of students present at the game.

Greg Jackson, a Tech alum, said he thought Pat Knight's home opener would draw a bigger student crowd no matter what they were expecting.

"It's really a pitiful turnout," he said.

Most fans didn't seem disappointed to have Pat Knight leading the Raiders, though many were sad to see his father go.

Muennink said he believes the area most affected by the transition would be fan enthusiasm.